01/11/01 - As the scandal
regarding the 1999 U.S. use of depleted uranium (DU) rounds
in Kosovo spreads and re-ignites controversy about the Gulf
War Syndrome that has damaged the health of thousands of
veterans, "From The Wilderness" has today obtained
a copy of a 1984 FAA Advisory Circular - still in effect
- that shows that DU has been in use as a component in aircraft
manufacture for years and that the U.S. government has always
treated DU as a hazardous material in full awareness of
health risks it presents. The existence of this advisory
bulletin belies the official U.S. Government position that
it was largely unaware of health risks connected with DU
and raises questions about U.S. prioritization of the relative
value of human lives as it becomes increasingly apparent
that the United States Government chose to not advise NATO
allies in Kosovo or Iraq, or even certain members of its
own armed forces of known dangers connected with DU exposure.
Moreover, the bulletin specifically indicates that U.S.
aircraft manufacturers like McDonnell-Douglas, now owned
by Boeing, routinely posted health advisory and safety precautions
in aircraft manuals as far back as 16 years ago. This was,
according to the FAA, a result of cadmium-plated DU being
used as weights to balance "ailerons, rudders and elevators
on certain jet aircraft and certain helicopters."

FAA Advisory Circular 20-123,
dated 12/20/84 is entitled "Avoiding or Minimizing
Encounters With Aircraft Equipped With Depleted Uranium
Balance Weights During Accident Investigations." The
two-page memo was written to warn FAA crash site investigators
that, as a result of an air crash, DU weights in various
parts of the aircraft might have had their cadmium plating
removed. The memorandum states "While the depleted
uranium normally poses no danger, it is to be handled with
caution. The main hazard associated with depleted uranium
is the harmful effect the material could have if it enters
the body. If particles are inhaled or digested, they can
be chemically toxic and cause a significant and long-lasting
irradiation of internal tissue."

FAA spokesman Les Dorr today
confirmed for FTW that the 1984 Advisory was valid and still
in effect.

The memo also contains the
somewhat ironic statement, "... only 'depleted' uranium
is used, which means it has been processed to remove most
of its uranium 235, the most highly radioactive form used
in nuclear power plants."

The 1984 memorandum, written
by FAA Director of Airworthiness, M.C. Beard, and circulated
to all FAA crash site investigators, ends with a list of
safety precautions for investigators at crash sites including
protective gloves, eye protection, respirators and other
protective clothing. The memorandum ends by stating that
all such protective clothing should be discarded in containers
labeled "radioactive waste" and disposed of accordingly.

A full copy of the FAA memorandum,
including FAA verification of its authenticity can be found
at the end of this document.

While the advisory itself
does not specifically list which military or commercial
aircraft are currently equipped with DU components FTW has
contacted corporate spokespersons for the Boeing Aircraft
Corporation in Seattle. As of this writing no response has
been received.

The current revelation, along
with developing stories on Sarin Gas and CNN's wrongful
termination of producers April Oliver and Jack Smith as
well as the U.S. Government's insistence on the use of the
fungicide fusarium oxysporum in Colombia are strong indicators
that charges that the Unites States has assumed an arrogant
and careless posture with regard to human life are well
founded. As the major media ignore or downplay the damning
evidence of American guilty foreknowledge in the use of
DU, European media and European military allies increasingly
wonder whether the U.S. has assumed an Imperial posture
in its dealings with the rest of the world. This would include
its so-called NATO allies who were reportedly not warned
of the dangers of DU use in either the Middle East or the
Balkans. Such questions also give new credibility to continuing
claims from U.S. Gulf War veterans that they were used as
Guinea Pigs in a conflict where DU was a main staple of
the U.S. military machine.

The FAA Advisory Circular
was reported on by author journalist Craig Roberts ("The
Medusa File")and disclosed in a casual e-mail on a
list-serve discussion group this morning. FTW Publisher
Mike Ruppert saw the e-mail and immediately notified Gulf
War Vet Spokesperson Joyce Riley and French documentarians
Audrey Brohy and Gerard Ungerman whose new documentary on
the Gulf War, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm"
will air throughout Europe on January 17. Both have done
extensive research on DU and both found the existence of
the FAA memorandum to be "devastating" to the
official U.S. positions on the subject.

A more complete story will
be published in the January 31, issue of FTW which will
mail to paid subscribers only.